Choices We've Made, TCM Version
by The Crocea Mors
Summary: Jaune Arc's been given the chance to attend Jäger Academy, the best Hunter school in Remnant, allowing him to live his dreams and prove his worth as the heir of the Arc family, but to do so means he has to leave his friends and Beacon behind. {This was originated from ShiroSasaki, and you should definitely check him out}
1. The Proposal

RWBY belongs to RT and Monty Oum.

* * *

Beacon is one of Remnant's finest Hunter schools, but there existed one that dwarfed it. This school was created by a council of politicians, veteran hunters, and government officials for the sole purpose of creating the finest Hunters Remnant's ever seen. In this school, at best there were 100 students, and no one can merely 'apply', they were picked, picked to join. It was located in the snowy regions of Atlas, and was currently being run by a shrewd, mysterious woman by the name of Elisa Schwartz. The school was as mysterious as they come, the exact criteria to be even _considered_ were unknown, as were the graduation requirements, but there was one thing that was certain, whoever made it was considered one of the best.

* * *

It was a typical Monday morning in Beacon, students were getting ready for their day ahead, chattering with friends about what had happened on the weekend, grumbling about school, you know, the usual. There was however, one thing that was new, and that was in the form of a woman wearing an all black attire that consisted of a trench coat, pants, heels, a hat and sunglasses. She had blonde hair, was beautiful, and if students had to guess, she was in her mid 20's. She was flanked by two men who too wore all black, but they wore a black, long sleeve shirt, military camo pants which were a mix of black and grey, and combat boots. The man to her right had a vertical scar on the right side of his mouth (think of Ezio's) and had brown, slicked back hair, and equally brown eyes, while the man on the left had midnight black hair and mint green eyes.

The Hunters and Huntresses in training were all whispering about what the trio's business was, and the fact that they were headed over to Headmaster Ozpin's office wasn't helping, and when they saw that the woman, who they assumed was the leader, was holding a black, leather bag with an image of a light blue falcon with a white outline. The three paid the students no mind, merely continuing their walk towards Ozpin's office. After a few minutes of walking, they finally reached the elevator, and started up. With a 'ding', the doors opened and there sat behind the desk, his back turned away from them and facing the window, the three walked into his office. Before they could break the silence, Ozpin did so, turning to face them, with a cup of steaming coffee in his hand. He set the cup down onto his desk, and cleared his throat to address the three individuals in front of him.

"Hello Elisa, Jason, Justin," Ozpin had said to the three of them, to which the two men nodded while Elisa was the only one who spoke.

"Ozpin, it's been quite some time since we last met. I assume you know why we're here." Elisa had said, to which Ozpin had nodded.

"Indeed, do you require him now? He's with his team and RWBY, "chilling" as the youth's would call it."

"Yes Ozpin, we need him now, no amount of," Elisa had hesitated for a moment before continuing, "'chilling' would be a reason to stop this." She had said. Ozpin sighed before pulling out his scroll and sending a message to one Jaune Arc.

"There, is there anything I can get you while you wait, Elisa, Jason, Justin?" The three in question had shook their heads no, before they took a seat, waiting for the blonde leader of JNPR.

After a few minutes said boy had walked through Ozpin's office, wearing his standard Beacon uniform, except he had on a blue tie instead of the usual red. The tie brought of the blue of his eyes, Elisa had to admit. Ozpin had greeted the Arc boy first:

"Welcome, Mr. Arc, please take a seat." After doing so, Ozpin had continued. He motioned towards Elisa, Justin and Jason.

"This lady is Elisa Schwartz, and these two men are Jason and Justin." Jaune had waved at them and gave a sheepish smile, waiting for Ozpin to continue, but it was Elisa who did.

"Mr. Arc, it's a pleasure to meet you." Elisa had said, shaking his hand. "We've heard quite a lot about you and what you've done and we've got to say, we are very impressed." Jaune had turned red at the praise but he quickly regained his composure before replying.

"Thank you Ms. Schwartz, but it really was because of the efforts of both my team and RWBY that the mission had turned out the way it did."

"While I admire your modesty Mr. Arc, it wasn't them who formulated that brilliant plan to hold over 2-3 horde's of Grimm until back up could arrive, not only that, but not a single person was hurt. I can tell you'll be a brilliant general."

"U-Uh thanks Ms. Schwartz."

"Please, just call me Elisa." Jaune looked unsure for a moment before seeing a nod from her before continuing.

"Uh, alright, Elisa." She had nodded before pulling out a file from her black leather suitcase. She presented it to Jaune, before thanking her and taking it. There was an image of a light blue falcon with a white outline on the front. He opened it and his eye widened in surprise, and upon seeing his reaction, Elisa had chuckled before talking.

"Yes, Mr. Arc, your eyes do not deceive you, that is a file from Jäger Academy, yes, _the_ Jäger Academy. You see Mr. Arc, the Executives have kept an eye out for you since you've entered Beacon, and after your recent performance they've wanted you to be part of the Academy. What do you say, Mr. Arc?"

Jaune studied the file thoroughly, before replying.

"I have a question, if I may."

"Of course, ask away."

"How long will training last?" Elisa had thought for a moment before replying.

"It should take somewhere from 2-4 years, Mr. Arc, although since you're already attending your second year in Beacon, I'm sure the board will take that into consideration."

"I see, will my team and RWBY be going as well?"

"No, Mr. Arc. But please do keep this in mind, you're being offered to go to the best Hunter school in all of Remnant, and I'm certain your friends would want you to make the right decision." Jaune thought over her words before nodding.

"I-I understand. When do I leave?" He had asked with trepidation.

"We have some other business to attend to at the moment, and we would like you to prepare adequately and sort out what you need to, since you will not be in any contact with the outside world except for missions, so we shall be back Friday. With that in mind you shall be given these." With a snap of her fingers, the man Jaune assumed was Justin had walked over to Ozpin's closet and pulled out a black suit cover bag, and a black leather suitcase. He walked over to Jaune and handed it to him, before Elisa had spoken.

"You will wear the suit when you leave on Friday, and you will pack your stuff into this bag. Everything you could possibly need is already in the Academy, so just pack some necessities, such as toothbrushes, undergarments and such. You can keep the file, but I suggest you keep it on your person at all times, if not possible, store it in a secure location. Good bye, Mr. Arc and see you on Friday." With that, the three had stood up, and after shaking Jaune's hand, had left Ozpin's office, leaving him alone with said man.

"I'm proud of you, Mr. Arc, I always knew you had potential, and now here you are, getting accepted into Jäger Academy." Ozpin had said, sounding proud.

"Thank you Headmaster, if it wasn't for you, I never would've been here." Ozpin shook his head.

"That brings us to another subject, Mr. Arc. With you leaving to attend Jäger Academy, there will be an absence with your team, JNPR." He had said, worrying Jaune. "But don't worry, Ms. Nikos will not have to get another partner if she chooses not to, and I will allow them to be a 3 man team with the leadership of Ms. Nikos." He had finished.

"But what about missions, Headmaster?" Jaune had asked, causing the man to smirk.

"Everyone knows of the closeness of your team to RWBY's and I've decided to pair them with team RWBY." Ozpin had said, apparently pleasing the Arc boy since he said nothing else and wore a smile on his face.

"That, Mr. Arc, is all you. Now you may leave, I'm certain your friends will be wondering why you've been summoned to my office." Ozpin had said, and Jaune nodded.

"True, see ya later Headmaster." Jaune had said, before putting the file into the suitcase in his right hand and his suit cover into his left and walking out of the room into the elevator and after a resounding _ding_ , he walked out, only to be immediately greeted by his team and RWBY.

"What'd Ozzie want?"

"Why were you called into his office and who were those people that left before you?"

"That lady and the crest looked awfully familiar, what business did they have with you?"

"U-Um guys, I'd appreciate it if you could hold off on the questions until we get back to my dorm and put this stuff away." He said and brought up the stuff he had in his arms. They were alarmed that he had a suitcase and suit cover bag after leaving Ozpin's office, but just before they could comment, he interrupted.

"Bup-bup-bup, no answers until dorm."

* * *

It was an uneventful walked back to JNPR's dorm, and when they'd gotten there, Jaune had walked over to his closet and hung the suit up, while retrieving the file from the suitcase and throwing it onto his bed, before zipping up his suitcase and putting it into the corner. Weiss had picked up the file and was surprised from the contents, as evident form her gasp.

"What's wrong Ice Princes, did Vomit Boy get the ax?" Yang had asked. Weiss paid her no mind and kept on reading, and when she was done, she handed it over to Yang, who too was caught off guard. Weiss turned away from her to face Jaune.

"You're going to Jäger Academy?" She had asked.

"Yeah, I guess so." Jaune had said. Her face was a mix of surprise, anger, and... longing? Nah, he must be imagining things.

"Well although I deserve to be invited to attend the Academy, I suppose you of all people are a good candidate." He was taken back by her compliment.

"Aw thanks Snow Angel." She huffed at the name before turning away from him with her arms folded while making a _hmph_ noise. Pyrrha had turned to her leader, partner and crush before addressing him.

"Jäger Academy, that is quite the accomplishment, Jaune. The Academy is well known for producing the best Hunters and Huntresses in all of Remnant." Pyrrha had said. "But what did the Headmaster say about what would happen to our team?" She had asked worriedly.

"I've spoken with the Headmaster about that and he said that you won't have to get a partner if you don't want to, Pyrrha." With that, the redheaded Spartaness shook her head, causing Jaune to smile. "I thought so, he said that the team will be under your leadership, and for missions, will be paired with team RWBY." That had surprised those present, but it was a pleasant one, allowing RWBY and the newly formed PNR to perform on missions together sounded really great.

"So, where does this leave us?" Ruby had asked.

"Well, I'll be taking a shower and getting dressed, and afterwards I'll head to class, I don't know about you guys." With the mention of class RWBY had excused themselves and left to get dressed in their dorm. Jaune and the rest of his team had laughed at the action, until Jaune had walked into the bathroom to shower, and once he was nude, he walked into the shower and turned the knob to the coldest setting. He desperately needed a cold shower to help school his thoughts, and the fact that he only had a few more days with them before leaving.

* * *

 **This story originated from ShiroSasaki and you should go check him out. I know this isn't _Jaune's First Mission, The Great War, Jaune the SEAL_ or _Arcstinction_ but final's and assignments have been weighing me down a lot, and since I have to do really well to maintain my grade's I've only had a few minutes every few days to work on these. So expect me to become quite active around the summer. **


	2. A Major & Minor Test

Jaune left the shower, and stood in front of the steamed mirror as he dried himself off as he brushed his teeth and put on deodorant. Once he was done with that, he left the bathroom as the steam escaped with him, and he headed over to his side of the room. He passed by Nora and Ren, who nodded and told him they'll get some breakfast. He headed over to his dresser and took his clothes out. He made a move to remove his towel when he heard an _'Eep!'_ come from behind him and clutched the towel even tighter. He turned around and saw his Spartaness partner with her hands on her face, but through her fingers he could see red, and he became slightly more worried. He walked forward towards her in panic.

"Pyrrha are you alright? You have some red on your face." He asked his partner, voice filled with concern.

"I-I-I'm fine, Jaune, p-please d-don't-"She was silenced however when the golden coloured towel he was wearing had slipped off of him due to his constant movement, Jaune hadn't seemed to notice, Pyrrha _however_...

" _It's... so... big..."_ Pyrrha had thought, upon being accidentally given a show by her partner and leader. Jaune however was unknowing until he felt a colt breeze pass by his lower half, and upon looking down, he was immediately distraught. He bent down and grabbed his towel and securing it tightly at his waist before grabbing his uniform and walking into the bathroom. He was trying to calm his frantic breathing and erratic heart before succeeding a few seconds later. He then removed his towel and slipped on his boxers. Next was his undershirt, then his socks, then pants, dress shirt, then vest, before leaving the bathroom. When he re-entered the room, he saw a better composed Pyrrha – although she bore a fierce crimson blush – and he walked over to his bed to pick up his blue tie, having long since ditched the red tie back in their freshman year when Weiss and the others had told him that the red of the tie interferes with the ocean blue of his eyes.

He walked over to the mirror and began to work on his tie, and once he was done, he put on his blazer and picked up his charging scroll from his bed, he glanced at Pyrrha and saw that she was slightly less red than before and was focused on something on her Scroll. He coughed to try and gain her attention, which worked.

"Hey, um Pyrrha, we should, uh, you know, head to the caf and get something to eat." She gave him a sheepish smile and nodded, getting up and following him to the door. The walk to the caf was awkward and quiet, and after a few more minutes, they made it, although there were mutterings of 'a blonde haired woman carrying a strange briefcase' were the hot topic of the Beacon students.

He and Pyrrha went over to the serving area to get their breakfast and sat down at the table that their team and RWBY had occupied. To the left of him sat Pyrrha, and to the right Ren, and to _his_ right, Nora, across was Weiss, to her left Ruby, to her right Yang and Blake. Jaune had 6 slices of bacon, two pieces of egg, and 5 pork sausages, while the others had a tamer breakfast. Jaune began eating and then felt 7 sets of eyes on him, and upon looking up, he saw the whole occupants of the table staring at him. He swallowed his bacon and lifted his brow in a questioning manner, Ruby had spoken first.

"People've been wondering who that lady was, what she was carrying in that case, and why she was here."

"I imagine you know who she is, Jaune?" Blake had asked. Said boy looked at his breakfast – or rather, what's left of it – and spoke.

"Her name's Elisa Schwartz, and she runs _Jäger Academy, you already know what the contents of the case were and why she was here." Was Jaune's reply._

"When will you be leaving, Jaune?" Pyrrha had asked. He felt her eyes look at him in concern, he didn't match, them, and only looked down at this food once again.

"On Friday," He answered, earning a round of gasps from the inhabitants of not only their table, but some of the students who had stopped their conversation to listen to theirs. They all looked at the blonde knight of JNPR in shock, trying to understand whether the information they heard was a joke or not, but seeing as both teams RWBY and JNPR looked dead serious, they knew that this woman, Elisa Schwartz, runs Jäger Academy, and that she came to Beacon for Jaune.

While Jaune had gotten considerably better since arriving at Beacon, he still hasn't gotten used to the stares or the compliments he gets, no matter how many he gets. Because of that, Jaune felt weird at having the spotlight shone onto him, and quickly excused himself from his companions while simultaneously picking up his tray, emptying it in a trash can before walking away from the caf towards the doors, and eventually, away from them. He checked his Scroll and saw that there was still a half hour left until classes start, so he went to his dorm, picked up a pen, paper, and an envelope and headed towards the gardens.

* * *

He found his usual spot where he would come to clear his mind and enjoy the rare peace and quiet. He sat down and began writing a letter to his family, letting them know of what had happened to him recently, with his progression in Beacon to being offered to the prestigious Jäger Academy. After he was done, he placed the letter into the envelope, sealed it, and walked over to the make shift post office in Beacon where students can send and receive letters.

Once he was done, he checked his Scroll once again and saw that he burned through 20 minutes, and Jaune decided to head over to his first class of the day, Grimm Studies with Professor Port. As he walked, he was subject to stares and gossip from his fellow peers, all with one, single connecting topic, Jäger Academy. That familiar but weird feeling he felt back at the caf crept up on him and he walked faster towards the class. After a while, he finally made it and sat down at his usual spot, although the stares and gossip hadn't ebbed away.

He kept his attention forward, staring at the very front of the class, not even bothering to recognize the others on the room, so much so that he didn't recognize when his friends had walked in, and afterwards, the boisterous man, Professor Port had walked into class, with his usual greeting and a tale of his heroics he performed when he was younger. Everyone however, was stunned when he stopped midway, and looked straight at Jaune, causing everyone in the room to do so as well.

"As you students may or may not have heard, Mr. Jaune Arc here has been offered a spot in the prestigious Jäger Academy, a feat not very easily done, why even I could not have done that. Students, please, give a big, big round of applause for Mr. Arc, who shall be having his last day at Beacon on Friday. "With that, the room was filled with applause, and even an _'EEYUPPP!'_ from one student.

"Mr. Arc, how about you gear up, and meet us over at The Pit." Port had spoken, with a nod, Jaune got up from his seat, and walked outside of the classroom and towards the locker room, where he changed out of his uniform and into his combat gear. He put on his normal black hoodie, jeans and sneaker combo. He put on his eggshell white plate armour, greaves, bracers, added protection to his forearms, shoulders and thighs. He retrieved Crocea Mors and clipped it onto his left side, taking his newly acquired dagger, and putting it horizontally on his back. Lastly, he took the new dual pistols he had, one was gold, while the other chrome. The handle for both was black, and in the chrome one, the twin crescent arcs were made of solid gold, while for the golden pistol, a silver-chrome outline out of the twin crescent arcs were present. He put the gold pistol, Ore, on the left side on the holster located on the upper thigh, while he put the chrome one, Argent, on his right side. He put extra ammunition onto the ammo holders on his belt.

Once he was done, he shut his locker and made his way over to The Pit, where Hunters and Huntresses would fight medium to high ranked Grimm, complete with high seats for all to see. Once he opened the double doors, he saw his class with the Professor in the stands, along with a lot of others who were interested in watching, in particular, he saw RWBY, his team, CFVY and CRDL.

"Mr. Arc, when the youngsters have heard that you were fighting today, they wanted to watch, is that a problem?" Jaune shook his head.

"Wonderful! Now, you shall be fighting 4 packs of Beowolves, with each pack containing 6, 4 Ursa Minor and 2 Ursa Major." There were ripples of murmurs as students were concerned as the sheer amount of forces Jaune'll have to face, alone, even for a seasoned Hunter or Huntress this would prove difficult, but for a second year Hunter-in-training, it's almost suicide, and a lot of people said this, mainly RWBY, (J)NPR, and CFVY. He only raised his hand in silence.

"Nonsense, Mr. Arc here's been offered to go to Jäger Academy, something most seasoned Hunters and Huntresses cannot claim. I simply want everyone to see the progress of Mr. Arc." He signaled to the control tower.

"On your word, Mr. Arc." Jaune sent a nod to Port's direction, which he did to the control room, and a loud siren and a red alarm sounded from a wall near a large grey cargo bay door as it opened. Out came 2 packs of Beowolves, 12 in total. They surrounded him in a circle, growling and baring their teeth. Jaune remained calm and pulled out Crocea Mors, and turning the sheath into a shield. He improved it as time went on, changing it to a new substance of metal that was 10x lighter but 5x heavier, but the snow white colour and the twin golden arcs were emblazoned on the front. He charged at one of them, bashing them with much force that he heard the crack of the skull when it impacted with the shield. He turned around and swung with sword, splitting one's head. He kicked another one across the jaw, breaking it and sending it crashing into a few of its kind away. A few lunged at him, but Jaune blocked it with his shield, lifted the shield, and brought it down with force, the sharp edges crashing down onto them, killing them. He threw his shield aside and held Crocea Mors with both hands. He swung the blade horizontally, killing off 4 in one go. Jaune jumped back, and in time too, since there were a few Beowolves standing where he was just a few seconds ago. He wound back and threw his sword, catching the 2 off guard. He reached to his back to get his dagger and killed those left alive. He heard applause as he picked up his weapons, and the bay door opened once again, revealing the last 2 packs of Beowolves and 2 Ursa Minor.

* * *

Jaune guessed the Grimm saw the bodies of their fallen comrades since they were more cautious in approaching him. The Ursa Minor roared and the Beowolves charged at him. He let them come to him as he prepared himself and crouched low to the ground. Charging his aura at the base of his feet, he surged forward and lifted his blade, and Crocea Mors had responded to Jaune's aura, changing its shape and form. It's cross guard and pommel grew bright as the brightest of gold. The blade itself became broader and longer, and resembled that of a broadsword. When he would move a trail of white and gold would follow his movements, and his blonde hair being swept by his hair only made him look ethereal.

He soon dispatched the Beowolves with ease, and came to face the two Ursa Minor, then, the bay doors opened and the final two Ursa Minor had joined in the fray. Jaune charged at one, beheading one, and stabbing another with his shield, seriously injuring it. The remaining two charged him and he jumped back. One charged at him and Jaune had charged up aura in his right arm, and punched it square in the face, his fist squishing the Ursa Minor's face and sent it crashing towards the injured Ursa. He drew his dagger and threw it at the remaining in between the Ursa Minor's eyes, causing it to fall. He walked to the last injured Ursa Minor and drove the modified Crocea Mors into its head, making a sickening 'CRUNCH' noise, as it made contact and as he withdrew it. More applause came, even louder than before as Jaune stood there, panting heavily with sweat beating down his face and his hair falling down onto his eyes, and with his muscles screaming at him to take a rest.

As the bay door opened for the final time, he threw the thoughts to the very back of his mind, the ground shook as the two lumbering Ursa Major stepped forward, their blood red eyes meeting his ocean blue. They roared a mighty roar and charged at him he saw one take a swipe at him but he blocked it with his shield, but he didn't see the other one come from his side as pain flared from his right side as he was sent flying into the other side of the Pit. With his left hand, Jaune reached at the part where the Major swiped at him, and felt his fingers – and soon enough, his entire hand – slicked in blood. He gave a cry of pain at this, and saw the both of them charge at him, he threw down his sword and shield and withdrew Ore and Argent, shooting rounds into the both of them until he heard the 'clicking' of the pistols and had ejected the empty rounds and reloaded with new clips.

He kept shooting until the both of them finally died, their once charging forms stopped as they hit the ground and skidded to a stop in front of him, not a few centimetres in front of his feet. He was panting heavily as applause thundered throughout The Pit. Professor Port jumped down from the stands and approached him, lifting him with one hand and wrapped his arm around Jaune's shoulders as he addressed the crowd.

"Ladies and gentlemen, as you can see, dear Mr. Arc here has demonstrated his skill for you today, and why he deserves his spot at Jäger Academy. Why, I remember when I was a younger man I-"He was interrupted however, by a very concerned Yang.

"Uhh proff, not wanna interrupt your story time about your glory days or whatever, but uhh, Jaune should probably get that wound checked."She pointed towards the large cut Jaune had on his right side, with amounts of blood trickling down.

"Uh, yes, great power of observation, Ms. Xiao Long! You may go take Mr. Arc to the infirmary." He finished, but not before winking at Yang, which caused said girl visible distress. She walked towards Jaune and wrapped her arm around him as he did the same for support. Soon enough, the rest of RWBY, his team and CFVY came down to greet him.

"That was excellent fighting, Mr. Arc." Yatsuhashi said.

"Nice one blondie, you looked hot out there." Coco said, pulling down her sunglasses a tad and winking at him. Just before anymore words could be said, Yang interrupted them by saying that Jaune needs to go to the infirmary for his wounds. They quickly agreed and made it there in no time, and the resident doctor, Dr. Oxelade, had treated him.

"You'll be fine since your massive pool of aura's healing you, although I do recommend you stay put and take it easy for the rest of the day, and maybe tomorrow, depending on how you feel. I'll have you excused." With that, the doctor had left, not before getting a 'thank you' from Jaune.

He saw the concerned faces of the 11 people in front of him but he assured them that he was fine.

"I guess I'll just head back to my dorm and chill for a bit." He said, and left, going his separate ways with them since the 11 still had classes to go to. He laid down on his bed, and pulled out the file on the Academy he had stowed away. Jaune flipped through the file, reading all the information, and looking through the pictures. Once he was done, he put the file back to its hiding place and pulled out his Scroll to look at the pictures he's had containing the fun and memorable time's he's had with his team, RWBY and CFVY.

'I should have these printed out, so I can have them framed and bring them with me' Jaune thought. He couldn't believe it, him, Jaune Arc, was going to Jäger Academy.


	3. Stares

**As always, I own nothing, and RWBY belongs to Rooster Teeth.**

* * *

Stares, those were all Jaune'd gotten ever since stepping out of his dorm, and into the rest of Beacon. It all started when he left the sanctity of his dorm later on in the day for some lunch. His team, RWBY, CFVY and even CRDL stopped by to check up on him, and he sent them away to do their studies. Now, in the crowded lunch room, with all eyes on him, he felt rather awkward at all the attention he was receiving, bar the fact that he was basically in the same position yesterday in Port's class, although the Grimm were in the place of the students.

' _I'd rather prefer to fight the Grimm, to be honest.'_ He thought as he awkwardly moved forward towards the lunch bar. He scanned around the room, and saw faces that weren't very familiar, some were young, fresh faced. _'That's right, how could I forget? The 2_ _nd_ _and 4_ _th_ _years are in class right now, while the 1_ _st_ _and 3_ _rd_ _'s are at lunch.'_

He sauntered over to the bar and picked up a tray, before loading it with mac and cheese, dinosaur chicken nuggets, mashed potatoes, strawberry cheesecake for dessert, and a glass of orange juice to wash it down. He walked over to an empty table and sat down. He began munching on the nuggets when he looked up, and saw that the eyes fixed on him had never left. He made eye contact with a few people before bringing his head down and focusing on his lunch. That was, until he heard the audible sound of footsteps, the setting down of trays, and the subtle creaks of the bench as additional weight settled down on it.

Looking up from his lunch once more, he was met with quite an interesting sight. He saw a boy with gray hair and equally gray eyes, to the boy's right was a girl with red eyes, framed by mint green hair and had a medium brown complexion, but what was the most interesting, was the girl that chose to sit beside him. The girl- _no, she was much too beautiful to be called that,_ the _woman_ beside him had piercing amber eyes, much like Blake's, although these eyes held darkness to them. She had black hair as well, but the smirk she wore unsettled Jaune greatly. He realized that they were most likely here to talk about the Academy.

"From your uniforms, I'd wager you're from Haven Academy from Mistral, correct?" Jaune asked, wanting to get rid of the feeling of eyes watching him by using conversation with the newly arrived trio.

"Yes, quite the power of observation you got there, champ." The boy with the gray eyes said, causing the mint haired girl beside him to become annoyed.

"Shut up Mercury, quite being so annoying." The girl said.

' _Mercury, huh? Fitting name, given the boy's looks.'_ Jaune had thought.

"Tch, whatever you say, Emerald." The now identified Mercury had said.

' _Wow, the people here must be named after their looks or something.'_ Jaune had thought.

"Since you've already discovered their names, it would be quite rude of me to stay nameless." A sultry feminine voice chimed in, from his right. She looked straight into his eyes, her amber meeting his ocean blue, and it stayed that way for a few tense seconds, before she stuck her hand out.

"My name is Cinder, Cinder Fall." The newly identified Cinder had said.

"Cinder huh? Well, given your amber eyes and black hair, I'd say it's rather fitting, and oddly beautiful, actually." He said, causing said woman to giggle, Mercury to laugh and Emerald to gasp. That was then he realized his mistake, he had actually _said_ it, instead of thinking it, like he did with Mercury and Emerald. He turned his attention back to Cinder as she began to speak.

"My, my, Mr. Arc you do have a way with words, or should I call you Jaune?"

"Jaune's good, Ms. Fall, or should I call you Cinder?" Jaune asked, causing said woman to raise a brow and chuckle.

"Cinder will suffice,"

"So Cinder, Mercury, Emerald, what brings the three of you here?" Jaune asked the Haven trio. Before either Mercury or Emerald could answer, Cinder did it for them.

"We could ask the same for you, Jaune. If I recall correctly, you're in your 2nd year, and it's currently the 1st and 3rd year lunch this moment." Jaune let out a small chuckle at the amber eyed woman's intuition.

"Hm, clever girl. To answer your question, I was volunteered to participate in one of Professor Port's classes, got injured and I'm taking a breather. Now, seeing as how I've answered your question..." Jaune finished, trailing his question.

"Well, we've wanted to see what the dude who got picked to go the Academy's like." Mercury bluntly stated, earning a smack on the arm from Emerald.

"Interesting, what do you think so far?" He asked, somewhat knowing the answer already.

"You retain some of child-likeness due to your choice in picking dinosaur chicken nuggets over regular ones, and have a sweet tooth because of the strawberry cheesecake lying on your tray." Cinder said, furthering Jaune's interest on the amber eyed transferee from Haven.

"You interest me, Cinder Fall."

"Likewise, Jaune Arc." The two stared at each other for a few moments, until Mercury spoke up.

"As interesting as this, uh 'whatever' this is," He began, using air quotes with the ending of the sentence.

"But I have other things to do, so I'll see ya." He finished, standing up and passively waving to them, before Emerald gave a sheepish smile, stood up, waved at them and walked towards Mercury.

"Seems now like the foursome's now a twosome." Jaune half-mindedly commented, causing his female companion to let out another chuckle.

"Phrasing, Jaune, you should be more careful with what you say, and how you word it." She finished, making the blond boy she was conversing with think about what he said before his face broke out into a red blush.

"U-Uh I mean, that's not what I meant, by 'twosome'." He awkwardly threw out.

"I find it rather amusing Jaune, don't worry about it. Perhaps we should talk a walk, since this, so called 'twosome' isn't between two people at all." She said, nodding her head to the right, making him look around the room and remember that it wasn't just between him and Cinder after all.

"Alright, a change of scenery is best." He said.

With that, the blond and ravenette walked away from the cafeteria, side by side, causing a ripple of murmurs throughout the room. Once they were out and the doors closed behind them, Jaune turned his head to his new companion.

"You do realize that this will spark a lot of rumours between the two of us, right? And even though this is a school that trains Hunters and Huntresses, it is filled with teenagers, and gossip _is_ something that's quite normal about this school." Cinder paid no mind to Jaune's concerns.

"Let them talk, their words and opinions mean nothing to me. Now that you're attending a secretive, top-tier, crème de la crème of any school in the entirety of Remnant, perhaps you should try and do the same." Cinder stated, making the Arc heir consider the amber eyed woman's words. He nodded.

"So Cinder, I'd have to ask, what year or you in?" He asked, causing her to raise her brow and smirk in amusement.

"Why don't you tell me, Jaune?" She answered.

"Hmm," Jaune said, cupping his right hand onto his chin in a classic thinker pose.

"Neither you nor your two companions look too fresh faced, pardon me if I sound offending." He said.

"Is that all, Jaune?"

"No, from what I've experienced, most of the freshmen won't have the confidence to approach some stranger, none the less someone older than them who's been selected to attend a secret academy greater than Beacon." He finished, causing Cinder to smirk – something Jaune thinks is the only expression Cinder wears – and mock clap him.

"Well done Jaune, that was well deduced, although I wouldn't expect nothing less of an Arc, never mind an Arc selected to go to the elusive Jäger Academy." She finished, making some pride swell into Jaune's chest at being complimented – for his skill of deduction, no less! – by a beautiful woman like Cinder, although that nagging feeling he had about Cinder hadn't left him, in fact, in only had gotten worse.

"So Cinder, where exactly, _are_ we going?" Jaune asked, now noticing their surroundings that their current path was heading them to the docks of Beacon.

"I'm assuming that you'll have a limited amount of time left in Beacon, so I'd like to take it upon myself to get to know you to the best of my abilities." She finished, as they boarded the bullhead that was going to take them to the city.

"So Cinder, how exactly _do_ you plan on, 'getting to know me to the best of your abilities.'?" He asked, causing Cinder's beautiful face to once again to have the smirk – that as more it comes, the more it unsettles him – to form.

"You'll see Jaune, you'll see." She said, turning her head to the side to look outside the window to admire the scene, well that _was_ what Jaune was thinking, Cinder's however was completely different, and Jaune was unable to see the devious smirk that was on her face.

* * *

 **Rather short chapter, but I feel that it's still an important chapter none the less. We meet Cinder, Mercury and Emerald in this chapter, and well, _that_ happens. What does Cinder's plan on getting to know Jaune involve? Find out next time. (By next time I mean when I _actually_ have the time to write somewhat longer chapters.) **


End file.
